During a recent interview with Loudwire, Wolfgang Van Halen discussed his experience of reconnecting with former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony at MAMMOTH WVH‘s concert in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 8th.
“He’s family. It was long overdue,” Wolfgang said. “I think we had planned that at least since I’ve been touring and it just worked out and it was very wonderful to see him. [I] love that my mom was there [and] my uncle Patrick who is also part of the MAMMOTH team; he goes way back with them. It’s really nice to have that little reunion.”
After the concert, Wolfgang took to social media to share a couple of backstage photos of him with Michael at the House Of Blues, and he included the following message: “Ran into an old friend at the @mammothwvh show in Vegas tonight. (Love ya, Mikey)”
Anthony posted a video of the MAMMOTH WVH concert along with a behind-the-scenes picture of himself and Wolfgang Van Halen. In his caption, he wrote: “Went to see MAMMOTH WVH last night here in Vegas, and they threw it down! Love ya Wolf, so great to see ya! (Proud of you brother!!)” Asked by a fan how long it had been since he and Wolfgang last met, Michael replied: “First time in 20 years.”
During a recent interview on Q104.3‘s “Out Of The Box With Jonathan Clarke,” former VAN HALEN bassist Wolfgang Van Halen was posed with a question regarding his thoughts on the forthcoming summer 2024 tour featuring vocalist Sammy Hagar, bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham, with a significant emphasis on VAN HALEN‘s music.
“Yeah, that’s super cool, man,” Wolfgang responded.
The tour, scheduled to begin in July 2024, will cover 28 cities in the US and Canada, aiming to delve deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, celebrating both Hagar‘s and Roth‘s eras in the band. Hagar emphasized his hope for Alex Van Halen‘s participation despite previous unsuccessful attempts to contact him.
“We’re gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog,” Hagar told “The Howard Stern Show”. “If you’re gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, you need Joe Satriani.”
“It’s time. Nobody else is gonna do it,” Sammy stated about performing songs from different eras of VAN HALEN during a recent appearance on “The Howard Stern Show.” “If Dave [Lee Roth] goes out, he can’t sing my stuff. [But] we can do a few of the early VAN HALEN songs. I have no problem with that; I did it when I was in VAN HALEN. This is really a celebration of all that, and we are the only ones who can do it.”
“We’re gonna invite every musician in every town,” he continued. “First of all, whenever you play, if there’s a guitar player in town, no matter what city it is, they come out to see Joe, just like they used to for Eddie [Van Halen]. So if we’ve got other guitar players, we’ll get them involved, other singers, get them involved. If [VAN HALEN drummer] Alex Van Halen wants to jump up, if David Lee Roth wants to come out and join us, come on, motherf**ker. You are welcome. This is about VAN HALEN.”
When asked about the likelihood of Alex Van Halen participating in the tour and potentially joining in the commemoration of his brother,” Sammy responded: “I would hope so. I reach out to Al about once a month for about five years now, and he doesn’t get back to me… I call, I leave a voice message, I send a text and I send an e-mail. All three things. ‘Al, give me a call.’ Al‘s favorite line to me was always, every time he wanted to get back together, he would say, ‘You know, Sam, we ain’t getting any younger.’ So I’d say, ‘Hey, Al, we ain’t getting any younger. Give me a call. Let me know. What do you wanna do? Come on over. Let’s get together. Mike and I’ll meet you somewhere.’”
